City Introspection

City Introspection, a photo by susanvg on Flickr.

Buildings bounce off buildings - like a street of imitators. They wear each other's facades. Sometimes it is hard to know what is real and what is just a reflection.

Low Evening Sun

Low Evening Sun, originally uploaded by susanvg.

The sun sets early; it cast its light almost horizontally and created strongly contrasted lighting. I'm not thrilled with this photograph. It doesn't do justice to what I saw. My photography course starts at the end of January. Hopefully, it will help me to better understand the settings on my camera to get just what I want.

Toronto Buildings

Toronto Buildings, originally uploaded by susanvg.

I go to Toronto a few times a year and each time I am astounded by the number of tall buildings. Montreal is not a small city (over 3.5 million in the Greater Montreal area) but because of our "mountain" there is a limit on the height of buildings. Toronto seems to like to build high. Across from our hotel they are building a 50 story condominium. Not only is the height sky high, but the prices are too. Toronto is a business city. Montreal is a little more laid back.

From the 1800s

From the 1800s, originally uploaded by susanvg.

Another concert - this time in the Chapelle Historique du Bon Pasteur, now a concert venue, once part of a complex that served as a convent. They were built over a few decades to house the "Sisters of the Cornmunauté de Notre-Dame du Bon-Pasteur d'Angers, who came from France in 1844"   If you want to know more, click here. The buildings have been put to new uses, including the concert hall in what was once the chapel. In this back section there are condos and a seniors' residence.

I love the solid feel of the old stone buildings. Across the street are newer condos which just don't have the same charm. Fortunately, the architects tried to make them fit into the surroundings in terms of size and proportions.

The concert - a delight. A visit with Mr. Bach by Ensemble Caprice. Just the thing to chase away the blues on a blustery grey day.

Jan 30/10: Windows

Jan 30/10: Windows, originally uploaded by susanvg.

My father was a self-made man. His father was a carpenter and my father had to quit high school to work with him to help support the family. Working weekends and summers he later finished high school at night and put himself through university. My father always saw windows not doors - possibilities not road blocks. He had an incredibly optimistic outlook.

He ultimately became a building developer and this is one of his projects. I know from stories people have told me, he was always honest and fair. He died 9 years ago this month, just shy of his 92nd (February) birthday. He has left brick and mortar legacies, but more importantly he has passed on his vision and values to his family and friends. I try to live up to his principles.

Day 340: Reflections

Day 340: Reflections, originally uploaded by susanvg.

This year is coming to an end and I thought I would stop and reflect on the experience.

There have been days when it has been difficult to take photographs - those days when the monotony of every day life doesn't seem to provide opportunity for finding something unique. Like others, I would go scrambling around my house looking for something I had not yet shared and a story to go with it.

I found myself often, in Walter Mitty style, drifting off into stories as my eyes focused on an interesting sight (sights I might have overlooked in the past). Yet sometimes it was only as I sat poised to write that the story actually made itself clear to me. I have enjoyed the writing which has somewhat surprised me.

As the year went on I felt more and more comfortable trying on different genres of writing, from fact to fiction to poetry. I don't think I would have gone public with some of this writing in the past. The encouragement of my audience and the sense of having an audience made me more willing to share and dare to write in new ways. I thank all of you who made that possible.

I have built relationships with new virtual friends and feel both through your responses to my photographs and work and through reading and viewing your posts I have grown to know you and treasure what you bring to my day, visual feasts, surprises. Through your eyes I have learned new ways of seeing. Through your words I have savoured your use of language to express ideas and feelings and have had much food for thought. I never quite expected to care so much about people I have never met.

My life has been made richer by opening my eyes to see the unique in the ordinary, to look beyond the surface and by making each moment an adventure in seeing. I have found stories I thought I had forgotten and learned from what I saw as my interest was piqued to look for more information to share.

I have been thinking of my participation in 2010. Here are my thoughts - I will continue to photograph, though I don't think I'll pressure myself to do a daily photo. If the day is such that nothing presents itself, there will be no more 11:30 pm treasure hunts through my house. I will try to write at least once a week. I cannot give up this experience or the network of incredible people this has led me to.

And for now - as the days get shorter, my camera will always be handy -25 days to go.

Day 304: Building...

Day 304: Building..., originally uploaded by susanvg.

A bus station is being built in Casselman on the outskirts of town. I find it interesting to see how the town is changing. The main street looks quite depressed, with a number of stores closed. The centre of activity seems to be moving to the outskirts with two large chain hardware stores, a big pharmacy and a large supermarket. There is talk of building a Walmart which will finish off what is left of the local stores.

Part of Casselman is simply a bedroom community for Ottawa and as such, residents seem to want the suburban life with big box stores rather than the rural life of a small town. I wonder if it is possible to have both.

Day 216: Glass Houses

Day 216: Glass Houses, originally uploaded by susanvg.

Toronto spreads and keeps spreading. What always surprises me is just how far from the centre there are still office towers and tall apartment buildings. A number of them are mirror-like, interesting to see but a hazard for birds who see what seems to be the continuation of the sky. I found a number of articles all stating that up to 5 per cent of birds are killed this way.

At one point I had one window in my house that was tinted so I could work without the sun glare. In daytime it was like a one way mirror. From the outside you could not see in. At one point a young cardinal kept coming back to perch on the window ledge, occasionally pecking at its image. Unbeknownst to him, my two cats were watching him from inside, no farther than the thickness of the glass. After a couple of weeks he stopped coming. My cats had to find another source of amusement. No birds were killed taking this photograph!

Day 147: Advertising

Day 147: Advertising, originally uploaded by susanvg.

This ad hearkens back to the days before billboards. You can see traces of old advertising on older buildings around the city. Often the ads on buildings are for companies or goods that are no longer in existence. Imagine the work of painting these on buildings. They were meant to last - not, as today, rented for a period of time only to be changed when the workers show up again with their paper and glue. And then there are the electronic ads - flashing on screens for moments only to be suplanted by the next one. It's the age of rapid change with anything and everything done to catch your attention, to catch your brain into craving for things.

Day 89: Up through the rain

Day 89: Up through the rain, originally uploaded by susanvg.

You never know where a photo comes from - as I go through my day, my camera always by my side, I don't always see the photo op or realize what photo will be the one.

I was at a conference all day - Springboards - which is about the teaching of language arts. Roch Carrier, a Canadian author spoke. He talked about when he was young and studying at the Sorbonne, he decided to write a story a day - each day different and how he had to make what he described unique. It resonated - how in photography we try to find the unique in the ordinary, to see what we didn't notice before. He also spoke about how the text is alive that it takes on meanings depending on the experience of the reader and the context in which it is read. So true with photos as well.

I took few pictures yesterday - one of 3 teachers who have been part of a telecollaborative initiative I have been leading with another colleague. One of the teachers was presenting about her growth through this project and how she came to be a blogger. I didn't post that photograph because, while I value the memory, the photograph itself didn't really represent the uniqueness of the moment.

I settled on this image, shot as I was exiting from the parking garage and was waiting for a gap in the traffic to get onto the street. I looked up through my sunroof (or should I say rainroof) and snapped this. Even through the rain I was intrigued by the buildings, but also by the white space. Sometimes it is the spaces we make in our lives, - time for reflection, for listening to wise people, for friendships - that help us grow and reach in ways we haven't before.